Can trees show community's spirit of giving

Pixie Kastrup works on stacking canned food during FOOD Share's 2012 Can-Tree Challenge at The Collection shopping center. Kastrup is a yoga instructor and teaches at Yoga Jones in Ventura.

Ventura County Star

Along Town Center Drive in The Collection in Oxnard, teams busily constructing "can trees" could be misconstrued as Santa's elves as they participate in the first fundraiser/holiday event held at the new shopping center.

Leticia Wilson, marketing director for The Collection, said the food drive will benefit FOOD Share, which she said is the perfect way to introduce the long-delayed shopping center to the community.

"This is our first official event, and we wanted it to be about the community. What better way than to partner with FOOD Share?" Wilson said.

The Collection has welcomed some tenants this year, and plans to open such major retailers as Whole Foods by spring after being delayed by the recession.

The Can Tree event started Friday and will continue through the weekend. More than 50 trees will be built by area businesses and various civic groups, consisting of 800 cans built in a conical, Christmas tree shape using kits provided by FOOD Share. Wilson said she had 70 green and gold tree toppers made that match The Collection's holiday décor, which will make the main street through the center come alive with the festive creations.

On Sunday, the trees will be taken down and the cans will be given to FOOD Share to disseminate through the more than 150 pantries in Ventura County that rely on the food bank.

Bonnie Weigel, FOOD Share CEO and president, was trying to decide which football jersey she should wear to reflect the "Tackle Hunger" theme of this year's food drive, while excitedly preparing for the day.

"We are hoping to really engage the community in experiencing the mission. People are exhausted after the election and with the economy," Weigel said before deciding to wear an old St. Bonaventure Seraphs jersey that she said belongs to her husband. "They want to help and they wanted to know what they could do as a team."

Some companies, such as the Ventura County Credit Union and Wells Fargo sponsored multiple trees. Natalie Bradley, community development manager for the Ventura County Credit Union, said everyone contributed to the effort to build six trees.

"We have collected from members, employer groups, vendors; we reached out to everyone and they have been extremely supportive," Bradley said. "We built the trees in the branches so members who donated got to see what the tree would look like."

Patti Gibbs was leading the Gibbs International Truck Center team, which was building four trees at The Collection.

"We left one tree at the store that we decorated for the holidays," Gibbs said.

She said the company held fund drives to raise money to fund tree supplies, which cost $500 each. When the team arrived at the shopping center, pallets of cans, along with tree-making kits consisting of directions, along with round pieces of cardboard were waiting to be assembled.

Gibbs said it is important for Ventura County residents to address the ongoing issue of hunger in the community.

"We all go to lunch from the office in Oxnard, and there used to be just a few people on the corners looking for money. Now there are people on all the corners and some are with children. We wanted to tackle hunger. We wanted to help," she said.

The centerpiece of the display is a more than 15-foot tree built of more than 10,000 cans by students at ACE (Architecture, Construction, and Engineering) Charter High School in Camarillo.

After the corporate teams build their trees, the event was to open to the public starting at 5 p.m. Friday for community groups such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and others to make their own trees. Yellow barrels will be available through the weekend, and people are encouraged to bring canned and nonperishable food to donate.

Wells Fargo has pledged to match cash donations from the community up to $10,000, Weigel said.

"We could end up with $20,000 at the end of the weekend," she said, adding that cash donations are welcome.

Weigel said FOOD Share's goal this year is to raise $150,000 in donations and 200,000 pounds of food throughout the holiday season. FOOD Share provides food to more than 74,500 people each month in Ventura County.